Do long-distance relationships actually work?

In your youthful years, it's natural to want to travel or experience the lifestyles of different cities. Or perhaps you need to pack your bags to study abroad.

But if you find yourself in aserious relationship, it's not always easy to convince your significant other to join you. You have two options: call it off or try a long-distance relationship.

The first option seems the logical solution, but when it's someone special, you'll want to do anything you can to keep you guys together. But do long-distance relationships actually work? A survey has the answer.

In new findings delivered by interactive sex toy company KIIROO 58 per cent of participants said they're long-distance romance ended up successful.

In the survey, featuring 1000 American adults, nearly six out of ten reported that their relationship from afar worked.

The research also helped define the meaning of a long-distance relationship, even putting a number on the space between partners. According to the poll, lovers needed to be 212km apart to fall into the category.

Results also showed that the four-month mark proved most challenging while if you can make it to eight months, it's smooth sailing from there.

But not all respondents had their significant other move away. Half of those who answered the questionnaire met their partners online with 27 per cent starting their relationship a lengthy commute apart.

And how do they make it work? You'll need a mobile to start with: findings showed that on average,lovers sent each other about 343 texts per week or 49 per day while also spending about eight hours a week phoning or video chatting.

Meanwhile, two-thirds agreed that the travel time was the most difficult part of the relationships. Three in ten missed sex the most.

“As the world becomes more and more digitally connected and we see ourselves drifting further and further apart, the adoption of technology to forge new and better ways to communicate has become imminent,” says Toon Timmermans, CEO of KIIROO.

“We forge new relationships online more now, than ever before. From the results of this study, we see that technology in any shape or form is being used by long-distance relationships to feel closer, to feel loved and to attempt help ease sexual tensions that may arise due to the distance.”

However, the space isn't all that bad. Fifty-five per cent agreed that absence makes the heart grow fonder while 81 per cent confessed that it made the time spent together a lot more intimate.

And turns out living far away improves communication: seven in ten talked to their partner more frequently.

If you want to make your relationship work, you just need to put in the hard work. If you keep the communication up, you'll be able to manage the distance.